The government reported on Thursday, in addition to the economic contraction during the first quarter, the gross revenues of major industries fell by 4.9 percent.
The latest quarterly economic indices (QEI) report by the Philippine Statistics Authority ( PSA) showed that the decline in the gross revenues index for the first quarter reversed the 8.3 percent growth a year ago.
Gross domestic product ( GDP) shrank by 0.2 percent in the first quarter, which the government blamed on the January eruption of Taal Volcano and the COVID-19 pandemic, which not only slowed down global trade and tourism but also prompted a domestic lockdown to contain the disease since mid-March.
PSA data showed that sales of four sectors decreased during the period from January to March: mining and quarrying, down 22.7%; manufacturing, down 13.2%; transport, storage and communication, down 4.6%; and other services, down 3.4%.
Four other sectors, on the other hand, managed to post-sales rises at the end of March: financial and insurance operations, up 13.6%; real estate, up 3.7%; trade, up 2.7%; and power, gas, and water supply, up 1.5%.
Although overall sales for the sectors decreased, the total jobs index also decreased by 1.7 percent, reversing the 1.4 percent rise in the first quarter of last year.
Salaries in mining and quarrying as well as financial and insurance activities both dropped by 8.5%; transport, storage and communication, down 5.8%; trade, down 2.8%; production, down 2.6%; and construction, down 2.2%.
As for the three sectors, the pay of their workers improved during the first quarter. There were electricity, gas and water supply, up 9.1%; real estate, up 9%; and other services, up 1.8%.
However, the PSA said that “the pay per employee index decreased over the period by 2.2 percent at constant rates.”
